A brief scene in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga proves that Jar Jar may have been a Sith Lord all along. While LEGO Skywalker Saga makes loving Jar Jar cool, the character's reception hasn't always been quite so great. When Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace first released in 1999, Jar Jar quickly became one of the series' most disliked characters. While the character's presence was a bit overbearing in The Phantom Menace, taking up far too much screen time, there is actually a lot to love about the galaxy's most famous Gungan. Over time, many fans have begun to warm up to the character, especially those who grew up with Jar Jar as kids, highlighting some of the better aspects of the character, not the least of which is actor Ahmed Best's brilliant comedic timing and physical performance.
As reception for Jar Jar, who is one of LEGO Star Wars: Skywalker Saga's 300 playable characters, has improved over time, more and more theories about the character, and his importance in the Star Wars universe, have begun to rise. While Jar Jar initially comes off as a bumbling clown whose clumsiness gets him into all sorts of trouble, he quickly proves that he is capable of great things. He brings the surface peoples of Naboo together with the Gungans, allowing them to defeat the Trade Federation, and even becomes a galactic senator for Naboo. However, its his role in Emperor Palpatine's rise to power that has caught many fans' attention, leading to theories that Jar Jar may have been a secret Sith lord working in the shadows all along.
LEGO Skywalker Saga's surprisingly great Rise of Skywalker story mode gives a quick-yet-effective nod to this prominent fan theory. In the story mode's opening cutscene, Kylo Ren follows the mysterious voice of Emperor Palpatine to the secret world of the Sith, Exegol. As he descends into the temple, he begins to walk through a hallway filled with cloning vats that hold the bodies of several clones of Supreme Leader Snoke at varying stages of completion. However, the last vat contains Jar Jar Binks, who excitedly waves to Kylo Ren. Jar Jar's presence on Exegol would seem to indicate that his role in Palpatine's rise to power may have been more deliberate than it initially seemed in the films, and that Binks may have intentionally been working in the shadows to put the Sith into power.
LEGO Star Wars' Jar Jar Being A Sith Lord Is Surprisingly Plausible
While LEGO Star Wars doesn't always stick to canon, its Jar Jar revelation just might fit into the actual Star Wars canon. While the idead of Jar Jar Binks being a secret Sith lord may seem farfetched at first, the evidence makes it surprisingly plausible. For instance, many fans have noted that Emperor Palpatine is a master planner who rarely left anything to chance. With how much his plan hinged on Jar Jar granting him emergency powers (something almost unheard of in the Galactic Senate), it would make sense that Jar Jar was in on the plan from the start. In addition, Jar Jar seems to have incredible reflexes in battle, allowing him to survive and fight in a way that usually only Star Wars' force users can. Some fans have even noted some more obscure details, such as how Jar Jar always waves his hand in front of someone's face when convincing them of something, much like a Jedi mind trick.
This isn't the only fan theory to make it into the game (LEGO Skywalker Saga embraces the Finn-Poe relationship), its arguably the most prominent. The theory has become so widespread among Star Wars fandom that even Ahmed Best has cryptically tweeted his support for it. The inclusion of Jar Jar on Exegol and support for the Jar Jar as a Sith lord theory is just one way that LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga proves it understands Star Wars fandom better than most Star Wars games on the market.